Aa
Uh oh . .
So I work 10 hour days caring for an elderly lady who has Alzheimer's . When I took this job my employer knew I was expecting && she hired me because she knew the lady I was caring for would be light duty work for me . (no lifting , no bathing , no potty troubles) well today the lady pooped her pants && I was required to clean her . So here's my problems 1) I did it without gloves because my employer didn't supply them due to this woman being very self-sufficient 2) pregnant or not , my stomach couldn't handle it && I was gagging like crazy . My question is , If pregnant women cant even clean litter boxes would it be safe to clean human feces ? I was assured by the employer that I would be fine but I'm not so sure . . Not being rude but my baby is way more important to me than an elderly lady sitting in her poop for 30 minutes . (my employer waa on her way home from work !! But still insisted I do clean her eveb though that's not in anyway in my job description) I feel I was told to do it because they didnt want to deal with it . Sorry this is so lengthy ! Advice && is it safe ?
I have been in the nursing field for five years. You and your baby will be ok. Either ask for gloves or buy them yourself. Make sure you clean/scrub your hands and arm as much as you can. It might not be in your job description but things to happen and you need to be prepared for it. Again you and your baby will be fine. Just make sure you use hand sanitizer and lots of soap. ;) Also get gloves :).
Gloves n standard precautions should be used. Get gloves or contact the family or your employer about supplying them. Maybe you should try something different if you cant handle the odors anymore
I understand what your trying to say.
But to answer ur question no it can not harm your baby in no way. But if I were u I would buy gloves anyways. Take care sweetie
But to answer ur question no it can not harm your baby in no way. But if I were u I would buy gloves anyways. Take care sweetie
I work at a nursing home. I lift bathe clean people everyday. Some has infections but I use my precautions to protect myself and baby. There is nothing wrong with it. My Dr and actually let me work all the way up to my delivery. Just tell them you need gloves for just in case accidents. And wash your hands all the time and you will be fine.
Thank you ladies for your posts . && thanks to those who understood where I was coming from . I didn't mean to sound harsh . I love my step grandma but I love my baby too && babies haven't had exposure to diseases && such like a 72 woman who has lived full life has .
lol, people now days she asked a simple no or yes question not ur damn judgement. please keep ur thoughts to your self if you got negative things to say. smh!...
Just wear gloves next time. Pregnant women work as CNA's everywhere and deal with a lot of poop. Even poop with cdiff and even people with worse infections. As long as you wear gloves and wash your hands you will be fine. Just make sure this is a job you want. Dementia patients tend to have accidents and make messes.
Give her a break... What she ment by her post is that if its a danger to her back she would have to let her sit until someone else could take care of it. She took care of it, she did what she was suppose. The only reason she said she would let her sit was if it was a danger to her baby. Chill out.
feces is not sanitary. Most of you people commenting are just doing so to be rude. She should have never cleaned her of any bodily fluid without wearing gloves pregnant or not. Obviously getting feces in any of her orifices *especially the mouth* could pose a risk to her and her baby. Assuming you are capable of proper hand washing, I doubt you have to worry about that this time. You are right, your health and safety is your first priority and proper protection in handling bodily fluids is a must. If you aren't able or willing to deal with this aspect of your step grandma's care then I'd suggest a different PCA job. Accidents are common with Alzheimers and dementia patients. To care for someone with the disease takes much understanding of what can and will happen to the person you're caring for.
I think it would probably be best if you were to look for another job if incidents like this are going to bother you. You should have been warned going in that caring for an elderly patient can be every bit as trying as caring for a child. You also should have had the foresight to ask for gloves and other tools to aid you or supplied them yourself being a pregnant woman. What would you have done if she had vomited? I'm sure that isn't listed in your job description, yet that could happen to anyone - even perfectly healthy people sometimes can't make it to the restroom or a trash can when in that situation.
Rebeccaann11 is correct, changing an elderly diaper/cleaning up their feces is the same as an infant - just as love2512 is also correct. Either can carry bacteria that can be harmful to your baby. One isn't necessarily more malignant than the other. As long as you washed your hands immediately after, you should be fine. I would simply wait until your next appointment and bring it up to your doctor.
Rebeccaann11 is correct, changing an elderly diaper/cleaning up their feces is the same as an infant - just as love2512 is also correct. Either can carry bacteria that can be harmful to your baby. One isn't necessarily more malignant than the other. As long as you washed your hands immediately after, you should be fine. I would simply wait until your next appointment and bring it up to your doctor.
Human feces is human feces. It doesn't carry toxoplasmosis like cat feces does. It's gross, sure, but so are baby diapers and toddler diapers. Anyone who has C. diff you'd know about it and they'd be on huge quantities of antibiotics to treat it and would probably be in the hospital. It's not something "old people have" it is however something that is seen in hospitals way more often than home environments.
Talk to your employer and ask for a box of gloves now that you both know this is something that can happen, but it isn't unsafe in any way to clean another human who is otherwise healthy as long as you practice proper hand hygiene.
Talk to your employer and ask for a box of gloves now that you both know this is something that can happen, but it isn't unsafe in any way to clean another human who is otherwise healthy as long as you practice proper hand hygiene.
I understand what you are saying and I would have been cautious too, I also would have been annoyed because it not may have possibly put my baby at risk but it's not apart of my job. Anyway you should definitely get gloves in case this happens again, no one wants to play in ADULT poop without gloves, I don't care how close you are to the person
I work in a hospital, and although i dont clean up aftwr thw patients, i just get their blood, the only problem with older people is all the bacteria they can have in their systems, such as CDIFF, which is a terrible thing to have.. something that is most common in elderly people, i would really talk to your doctor and also see if you can view her records... im with morganelizabeth18 on this one, elderly poop is a bit different than baby poop, even if it is human poop.
Baby poop and adult poop are still HUMAN poop lol. Honestly it doesn't sound like the right job for you....
Do I have a problem doing it ? NO I never said that . I just want to know its safe for my developing baby for future accidents .
I love it && if you want to get technical , shes my step grandmother so I know first hand how hard it is watching your family member go through this but even her being my family I wasn't sure if it was safe . Baby sh.it && grown woman sh.it are very different . && I didnt ask anyones opinion on how I felt I asked if anyone had experience && knew if it was safe because I'm sure this wont be the last time this happens .
I'm sorry I don't mean to be mean but if you, don't care then why are you doing it?
If someone was taking care of one of my family members and said that I would be upset. taking care of an elderly woman with Alzheimer's isn't easy. my aunts mother in law has Alzheimer's and she constantly has to keep an eye on her because she will leave. pregnant women change poopy diapers. Babies and toddlers.
If someone was taking care of one of my family members and said that I would be upset. taking care of an elderly woman with Alzheimer's isn't easy. my aunts mother in law has Alzheimer's and she constantly has to keep an eye on her because she will leave. pregnant women change poopy diapers. Babies and toddlers.
I'm sorry you took that the wrong way but I never said I thought it was okay . It was actually quite sad . What I meant was , since I didn't know if it was safe for my CHILD that I didn't see why the family couldn't clean her up when they arrived home in a short few minutes . I'm sorry but my baby must come first && I'd rather her be uncomfortable for a couple minutes than my baby be in danger by getting someone elses poop all over me (which I did)
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